It was apparent when she stepped foot onto the West Brook stadium field Monday afternoon. She didn't need a pep talk. Nor did she need words of encouragement from teammates. She was ready to compete.

Field events opened the first day of the District 20-4A Track and Field Championships. Running finals are set for 5 p.m. Friday at West Brook.

"After winning the triple and long events for the last three years, first place was the only option for me," Brannon said afterwards. "That was my mindset at the time, and I wasn't going to take anything less."

Brannon finished in first place in the long and triple jump. It was her fourth consecutive title in both events.

Brannon is ranked No. 1 in the nation in both jumping events by Dyestat.com, a national high school track Web site.

"It feels great to be able to win the title for four years in a row," Brannon said. "This was the first time all season that I jumped over 19-05 feet in the long jump."

Brannon reached her longest jump of 19-10.25 feet in the long jump on her fourth attempt. The senior adjusted her marker further back on the runway during her last couple of jumps, which allowed her to gain more speed for a more explosive jump off the board.

"I had a lot of speed down the runway," said Brannon, who won the long and triple jump at the Class 4A meet a year ago. "It was kind of scary jumping with so much speed behind me, but it allowed me to get some good jumps in."

Brannon hopped, skipped and jumped 40-05 in the triple jump to win. She jumped the distance on her first try. She didn't attempt any other jumps.

Brannon is scheduled to compete in the 100-meter hurdles and the 400 and 800 relays Thursday.

"I only jumped once in the triple jump," said Brannon, who ran the fastest time of 14.98 seconds in the 100 hurdles prelims. "My goal was to jump over 40 feet and I was able to do it on my first attempt, so I'm happy."

Central jumper Brennan Jackson won the boys long and triple jump events. Jackson, who was in third place at the time, leaped 22-06 on his final attempt to win the long jump. Ryan McClain of Livingston finished in second place with a 22-00 jump.

"I came from behind in both events to win," said Jackson, who finished in second place in the long jump a year ago. "I pretty much had to adjust my marks to get a good jump off."

Jackson, who was the defending district triple jump champion, jumped 45-05.25 to win. The Central senior was in third place in the triple jump before he cleared the distance on his last attempt.

"It feels good to win both events," Jackson said. "I've been working hard in practice to achieve this goal all season long."

Little Cypress-Mauriceville sophomore Hayden Reed won the shot put with a throw of 57-07 feet. Lumberton's Sean Sparks finished in second place at 51-04.50.

Reed later finished in second place in the discus with a throw of 149-07, behind first-place winner Deon Brown of Central. Brown won the event with a throw of 150-09.

Lumberton's Crystal Brindle won the 3,200 meters in 12:39.80. Port Neches-Groves' Cailyn Pouter finished in second in 13:08.59.

Nederland's Trenten Fulk won the boys 3,200 in 10:25.69. Teammates Trevor Martin and Domingo Flores finished in second and third place. Martin came across the finish line in 10:38.95 while Flores finished in 10:54.09.

The top three finishers in each event qualify for the Class 4A, Region III meet scheduled for May 3-4 at Sam Houston University.